Coaching Lets Him Get His Kicks

7 Years Ago, `Mr. Soccer` Knew Nothing About His Sport

September 23, 1987|By Dagny Rutstein.

Garrett Boehm thought he was just signing up his son, Rett, for a simple season of soccer in 1980. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

``He got into the program, and I watched and thought, `Gee, I could go out and coach these kids,` `` he recalls. ``But I didn`t know anything about the game, so I went to the library and checked out a book on soccer.``

Since then, Boehm has devoted himself to the sport every fall and spring and has become one of the driving forces behind Barrington`s wildly successful soccer program. For Rett, now 13, this year is the last he will play in the Barrington Park District`s program. For his dad, though, there is no end in sight.

``He is `Mr. Soccer` in this town,` says Sandi Williams, who serves with Boehm on the soccer board. ``He`s very dedicated. If it weren`t for him, the soccer program wouldn`t carry through.``

``I guess I do everything from organizing and scheduling to coaching,``

Boehm says. ``I draw the line at grilling the hot dogs.``

Boehm and his son have seen the number of soccer participants more than treble to almost 1,200 since they got involved in 1980. That year parents created the Barrington Park District Soccer Club, and Boehm found himself on the original board overseeing the program.

``Over the next few years we exploded,`` he says. ``The kids found out it was a fun thing to do, and the parents found out it was fun and safe for their kids as well.`` Rett confesses it has been fun for him because he`s been on a good team: his dad`s.

The organizers emphasize recreation, not hard-core competition. Boehm says he thinks this is one reason parents have found the sport so attractive for their children. As a matter of fact, he says, the parents seem to have nearly as much fun socializing as the kids do playing.

``The parents of the youngest ones, the 5- and 6-year-olds, are just about as excited as they can get because their kids are just starting. They call it `beehive` soccer at that point because the kids just swarm all over the field wherever the ball goes.``

While each coach has his or her own philosophy of playing, ``the idea usually is just to get these kids to play as a team and realize they are not just individuals when they are out on the field,`` Boehm says. ``Some of the best times I have watching these kids is during practices and not in the games.``

The roughly 1,200 participants are divided among about 100 coaches in several categories. There is a home league and a traveling league that plays throughout the state. Girls can play in a girls-only division or the mixed division. Boehm says most of the girls switch to the girls division by the time they are 10 or 12, generally because the play gets too rough and also because they want to.

The divisions are each broken into age groups, the youngest being the 5-and 6-year-olds. Much of the growth over the last few years has been in these younger groups and the girls teams, Boehm says.

The program begins in September and runs through October. After a break for winter, it resumes in April and runs through June.

Williams has two sons who have been playing since they were tots. Kerry, 9, ``just lives and breathes soccer,`` she says. ``He loves the running and the action. And the older one (Lee, 14) says he just likes being with his friends.

``It`s an easier game, a simpler game for small children to play. No one is singled out to be at fault in the play, like in other sports. Everyone is in a group that is moving.``

The enthusiasm is evident in the daylong jamboree that marks the season`s end. Hundreds of players and their families meet for a tournament and picnic. ``It`s like a kaleidoscope of colors, with all the different jerseys and tents with refreshments,`` Boehm says.

One of his favorite memories is of the first jamboree in 1980, when the freezing October weather subsided for one glorious day. ``That Saturday was beautiful-60 degrees. And the tournament came down to a shootout in the last game with all the kids jumping up and down and shouting. It just started out the program really well.``

A few years ago, Boehm, 37, added to his busy volunteer schedule and joined the park district board. ``I found myself knowing so much of what was happening that I ran for that as well,`` he says. This year he is serving as president, a position that rotates annually.

Boehn says the district tries to accommodate residents by providing whatever there is an interest in. ``We really try to serve people,`` he says. ``If people have ideas and the interest is in the community, we`ll try to do it.``

Numerous classes are offered, in ballet, aerobics and other areas, and facilities for swimming, tennis, baseball, softball, golf and picnicking are all available in the village`s three parks.

Boehm says the park district is in the process of developing the 91-acre Ron Beese Park, which he hopes will include the village`s first soccer field when completed. All the games now are played on school fields.

While Rett is moving on to high school and out of the soccer program, Boehm`s daughter, Leslie, has turned 5 and is ready for her first year of chasing after a soccer ball.

You can count on the fact that Boehm will be with her every step of the way.